Alright, let me tell you how this whole New Orleans Saints championship belt thing came together. It wasn’t some grand plan, more like a weekend project that kinda spiraled, you know?
It started simple enough. Was watching a game, maybe after a few beers, and thought, man, the team deserves some proper bling. Not just the players, but like, something a fan could have. Looked around online, saw some stuff, but nothing felt right. Either too cheap looking or crazy expensive. So, I figured, how hard could it be to make one myself?
Getting the Bits and Pieces
First thing, I needed a plan. Not a real blueprint, just scribbles on some paper. What shape for the main plate? How many side plates? Decided on a classic look, big main plate, two smaller ones on each side.
Then, materials. I wasn’t about to forge metal or anything fancy. Headed down to the craft store and grabbed:
- A big roll of black fake leather. Looked decent enough.
- Some thick craft foam sheets. The dense kind.
- Gold spray paint. The shiniest I could find.
- Black acrylic paint for details.
- Super glue and some heavy-duty adhesive I found in the garage. E6000 or something like that.
- Velcro strips for the closure. Snaps seemed like too much work.
Had some basic tools already: box cutter, scissors, measuring tape, sandpaper (for smoothing foam edges).
Making the Strap and Plates
Started with the strap. Rolled out the fake leather, measured it around my waist with some extra overlap, and cut it out. Tried to give it that tapered championship belt shape. Took a couple tries to get the curve looking okay, not gonna lie. My first attempt looked more like a weird boomerang.
Next up, the plates. This was the fun part but also the most fiddly. I drew the shapes onto the craft foam. Big circle for the middle, smaller rectangles for the sides. Printed out a big Saints fleur-de-lis logo to trace onto the main plate foam piece. Cut everything out carefully with the box cutter. Smooth the edges a bit with sandpaper.
Painting was messy. Took the foam pieces outside, laid them on newspaper. Sprayed on the gold paint. Needed a few coats to get it looking solid and not streaky. Waiting for paint to dry is the worst, right? Felt like forever. Once the gold was dry, I used the black acrylic paint and a fine brush to carefully paint the fleur-de-lis and add some simple border details on the plates. Tried to make it look kinda like engraved metal. Let that dry completely.
Putting It All Together
Okay, time for assembly. Laid the black strap flat. Figured out the spacing for the plates. Used that heavy-duty glue to stick the foam plates onto the pleather strap. Put some heavy books on top while it set, hoping it would hold strong. That E6000 stuff stinks, by the way. Did it in the garage with the door open.
Once the glue was cured, I flipped it over and attached the Velcro strips to the ends of the strap. Tested it out. Seemed to hold okay. Good enough for showing off, at least.
The Finished Product
And that was pretty much it. Stepped back and looked at it. Honestly? It didn’t look half bad! It wasn’t perfect, you could tell it was homemade if you looked close. The foam wasn’t metal, the paint wasn’t real gold. But draped over my shoulder? It had the look. Felt pretty good, making something with my own hands like that.
It hangs up in my den now, right next to my Saints flag. Comes down on game days, naturally. It’s a cool conversation piece, and way more satisfying than just buying one. Took a bit of effort, yeah, but totally worth it. Who Dat!
